


Reality

by matsubroka



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Teen bc language?, dont roast me pls, in this au ghouls can drink all the alcohol they want, its a tg au but im trying not to copy tg so the first chap will be the only one w the same plot, kags has a sailors mouth, no limit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-07-29 09:03:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7678288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matsubroka/pseuds/matsubroka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kageyama Tobio's day had just gotten worse and worse, but you know what they say, if something seems like it can't possibly get worse, it always will. And don't even mention the ghouls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bad Days Start With Bad Mornings

Kageyama Tobio's day had just gotten worse and worse. First of all, he had 8 am classes that morning, and that means that his whole day was already ruined, but you know what they say, if something seems like it can't possibly get worse, it always will.  
  
He was now walking away from his last class of the day, and as he was getting out, some kid with annoyingly orange hair decided to spill his whole BLT on Kageyama's white shirt. Who was even eating a BLT after class? And _why_? He turned around and used a glare on the kid that would make grown men cry. The orange haired monster looked up in horror and flinched when he saw Tobio. Tobio hadn't even listened to the kids pleas of life. He would just have to massacre the fucking orange next time.  
  
He angrily walked away, and was just focusing on walking to his apartment without killing someone with his eyes. He was this close to absolutely slaughtering someone when they decided to run straight into him when the sidewalk was _completely_ empty. Luckily, his apartment was just up ahead.  
  
He pulled out his keys and walked up the stairs to get to his room. He wasn't sleeping in a dorm for college because those things are nasty, even if he went to a very nice school.  
  
Tobio had managed to get into a very, _very_ , prestigious school. He had worked his ass off every single day in high school, and it all eventually paid off. He was always an average kid at most, not too smart but not too stupid. He made up for the lack of intelligence in hard work and diligence.  
  
He had never really been book smart, but he had been street smart for as long as he could remember. As a child, he basically lived by himself. His dad died before Tobio could remember much about him, and his mother was too busy to even look at him. It's not like she wanted to look at him, either. She didn't abuse him or anything, but she certainly didn't take care of him.  
  
Once he was old enough to walk home from school and cook his own meals, his mother never looked at him again. In a sense, he thanked his mother for that because he was ready for the real world at age 12, but he also never had a normal childhood, and had fewer friends than he had fucks to give.  
  
He sighed as he walked inside, throwing his bag on the floor. He knew he had a shit ton of homework to do, but as of right now, he just wanted a sandwich, and a change of clothes. He pulled off his shirt, threw it in his closet and picked a new one from his dresser. He went into the kitchen, shirt in hand, and pulled out some bologna and bread, and made a sandwich for himself.  
  
He sighed once again as he stared at his bag. He walked over to it and decided that he needed to do his homework now, or else he would wait until four AM. He walked over to his desk and poured out the contents.  
  
He started to get aggravated when he looked at his assignments. All he wanted to do was be a psychiatrist. Why did he have to learn about ghouls? As long as they weren't attacking him he didn't care what they did.  
  
He couldn't care less about what to do if a ghoul attacked him. Depending on the day, he would either embrace it because he was never going to finish his project by the deadline, or he would smack the fucker upside the head and move on.  
  
But of _course_ , the CCG has to come in and lecture him about ghoul sightings and how to land a fatal blow on a ghoul blah blah blah.  
  
He was just trying to be a psychiatrist.  
  
He made it through the god awful ghoul homework and turned to the stack of psychology homework staring at him. He glared at it and it seemed to glare back at him.  
  
He checked the clock, and learning that it was only 6, he decided to start crackin on the stack of papers. His clean shirt was on the floor now, and he was still shirtless, but he couldn't care less right now.  
  
He got nearly done when he realized he was really hungry. He wished he had made that orange-haired kid buy him a BLT when he spilt it on him. He got up and walked to the fridge for the second time that night.  
  
He groaned when he saw that it was nearly empty, the bologna sandwich being the last thing in the fridge, and the last thing he ate.  
  
It had been a while since his last grocery visit, and it wasn't like it would take long. He's a broke college kid living off barely above minimum wage. It wasn't like he had thousands of dollars to spend.  
  
He grabbed his shirt and a jacket, the fall weather starting to get quite cold at night. He walked briskly through the streets, and slipped into the back alley because it was so much quicker to just walk through there.  
  
He made it through safely and went into the grocery store. He grabbed a bunch of cold cuts, a tub of ice cream and a bottle of vodka. That was as much as his broke ass could afford. He paid, and mentally groaned when he had to show ID. He _finally_ got out and didn't waste any time walking down the street, and immediately turning into the alley.  
  
He got halfway home when he thought he heard someone following him, and at this point, he couldn't care less. He kept walking and didn't even bother ignoring the obvious footsteps behind him.  
  
The footsteps ended up stopping, and Tobio just kept on walking. He only stopped when someone fucking _jumped_ him. He dropped the groceries and watched in horror as his precious alcohol fell on the floor and shattered.  
  
"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you! I paid good fucking money for that shit! Do you fucking hear me! You just wasted my life force!" The boy just stared up at him. He was considerably smaller than him and had dark hair and a mask on. Mask?  
  
 _Oh, he's a ghoul. Maybe I should run._  
  
 _Nah, fuck him._  
  
"Listen here you little shit, I don't give a fuck if you're a ghoul, okay? You better run, or I will shove my foot so far up your ass that you won't be able to shit correctly for _weeks_. Don't fuck with my Smirnoff." Tobio was so far passed pissed off at this point. He just wanted to go home and finish his homework.  
  
The kid had the balls to actually try and run up towards him, and Tobio hadn't spent his teen years in street fights for nothing, he dodged the fucker. And elbowed him in the spine. The kid turned and Tobio was about to rearrange his face when he heard something start to creak. He stared up and realized he was in a fucking _construction_ zone, and there was a beam about to fall on his face.  
  
The kid tried to run away, but Tobio would have none of that. He grabbed the back of the kids hoodie, revealing the dark hair underneath.  
  
"If I'm going down, you're coming with me." He growled a half a second before everything went to shit. The beam fell on top of both of them, and Tobio nearly lost consciousness right then and there. He faintly heard someone screaming, and saw the kid crushed under the beam like him. Serves the fucker right. He looked like he was wearing a... Volleyball jersey underneath his sweatshirt. What the fuck.  
  
Tobio stopped trying to reason why this kid was wearing a volleyball jersey and started to give into the darkness consuming him. The last thing he thought he saw was someone standing above him, on the roof of the building, but what did he know? He was probably hallucinating.  
  
Tobio woke up and saw white everywhere. White walls. White bedsheets. White ceiling. White floors. He heard an annoyingly persistent beeping, and he assumed it was his alarm. His mind didn't even register that this wasn't his bed.  
  
He looked over to shut the beeping off and came face to face with a heart monitor. He now realized that no, he was not in his bed. He was, in fact, in the hospital.  
  
But how did he get there? Why was he there? He wracked his brain for anything that could've happened the night before. Suddenly, the memories started flooding back. That weird ghoul kid had smashed Tobio's vodka, and Tobio was ready to kill him when they got crushed by a metal beam in a construction zone. _Of course_.  
  
The strangest things always seem to happen to Tobio. He remembers going on a ski trip when his father was still alive. He had just picked up snowboarding and was already a natural. Tobio had been carving down the mountain when a kid about his age with messy black bed head had completely wiped out. On top of Tobio.  
  
If this wasn't bad enough, after Tobio had been crushed by the kid that strangely reminded him of a cat, the black haired kid had jumped up, looked at Tobio and yelled,  
  
"Dude! I'm so sorry but I just got that on camera! Do you want to watch it with me?" And then they proceeded to watch Tobio go down, over and over again.  
  
Tobio had a vague memory of the kid telling him his name, but for the life of him Tobio could not remember. It's not like it matters though, because they never saw each other again.  
  
Speaking of getting wiped out, Tobio remembered why he was here, and looked around for a doctor or nurse.  
  
Nobody seemed to be in the room with him at the moment, but then he heard a creak, and who he assumed was the doctor walked into the room.  
  
"Ah so you've finally woken up." The man spoke calmly, as if not to startle Tobio.  
  
"You took quite a tumble there, but you should be ready to go in a few more days. Try to get some rest, and move as little as possible." The doctor started to explain the type of medication Tobio would be on, and what he would have to do to take care of his wounds.  
  
"Excuse me, but when's the earliest I can get out, because I have classes, and I'm sure that I've already missed some of them." Tobio said distractedly, thinking about the pile of work waiting for him.  
  
He tried to think of someone to get notes from, and groaned because he talked to literally no one in his classes.  
  
It was just one of the many tragedies in Kageyama Tobio's life.  
  
He spent the next three days in the hospital. He didn't eat much, since something seemed to be wrong with his tongue and stomach, because nothing tasted right. He spit out all of the food he had tried to eat, and was left with an empty stomach for a little less than a week.  
  
He decided that the first thing he was going to do when he got out of the hospital, was buy an actual meal to congratulate staying alive.  
  
He thought about his job at the library, he hadn't been able to tell them why he hadn't made his shifts for a few days, and decided he would have to do that too.  
  
Stepping out of the hospital doors took a big weight off of Tobio's shoulders. When people are in a hospital, bad things just seem to happen more often. Tobio was waiting for someone to barge into his room and tell him that his brother was in the ER having emergency surgery. Then Tobio remembered that he didn't have a brother and even if he did he probably wouldn't talk to him.  
  
When Tobio was released he immediately went to McDonalds for his first meal, if you could even call it that. He walked home with the bag, saving it until he got to his apartment.  
  
He threw the bag into his desk when he walked into his apartment, ignoring it for a few minutes. He took off the clothes he wore in the hospital and changed into some sweatpants. His stomach growled, alerting him that he had barely eaten for the past few days.  
  
He sat down at his desk and finally, _finally_ took a bite of his burger and-  
  
 _What the fuck?_  
  
It tasted like nothing he had ever eaten before, and not in a good way. He ran to his garbage and choked it back up. While thinking about exactly what the fuck the workers at McDonalds did to fuck up this badly, he remembered that he had classes tomorrow, and that he was basically fucked.  
  
He literally never talked to anybody in his classes, and he's almost positive that everybody was scared of him. If he had someone to get notes from then he would've praised them like a god, but unfortunately, he didn't.  
  
He sighed, deciding to spend one more night without food, and just went to sleep.  
  
When he woke up he was literally fucking starving. He remembered that he hadn't eaten anything for nearly a week and decided to scour his cabinets for something edible.  
  
He found some saltine crackers and decided to crack open the box. Saltines always tasted good, so what could possibly go wrong.  
  
Everything could go wrong, apparently.  
  
The saltines tasted like fucking shit. Tobio stared in betrayal at his crackers. He thought that he could trust them and they stabbed him in the back. How dare they.  
  
Tobio tried nearly every food in the house before giving up and slumping down next to his door.  
  
 _What the fuck? This is utter bullshit. All I wanted was some motherfucking crackers._  
  
Tobio sighed, and decided that he would just sit here until he starved to death. Then he remembered that he had actual classes and had to go to school.  
  
He got up again, deciding to shower and get dressed. His eye twitched, and he rubbed at it, irritating the skin around his eyelids.  
  
He went into the bathroom and stopped dead at the sight in the mirror. He stared into eyes that weren't his own. His left eye was still the steely blue color that it had always been, but his right eye had a pitch black sclera, and a blood red pupil staring right back at him.  
  
He gaped at the sight, not quite sure what to make of it. Obviously, this was not normal. He had realized that much. Now he had to figure out why this had happened.  
  
He remembered the doctor mentioning an organ transplant but,  
  
 _No, the doctor_ couldn't _have done that._  
  
But, it was still a very possible conclusion.  
  
Tobio started to think. Doesn't a doctor need consent to do something that reckless, something like transplanting a _ghoul's_ organs into his body.  
  
Tobio shuddered, and assumed that what he was thinking was right. Now he had no idea what the fuck to do. How was he supposed to eat a fucking human. Would he just stand on the side of the road with a box that read "accepting any spare human parts".  
  
He was fucked. He was completely and utterly fucked by life itself. You would think he would get at least a bit of pleasure out of it, but nope, he's stuck here with fucking ghoul organs and no idea how to fucking deal with it.  
  
But seriously, he was fucking _starving_. How was he supposed to deal with this?  
  
Suddenly he shot up, and stared at his coffee maker. He prayed to any higher power up there that it would work today because it had always been a bit finicky.  
  
He remembered some parts of the lectures about ghouls, and he knows that they can drink coffee, and some types of alcohol. That's actually a great coincidence because that is all that Tobio ever eats.  
  
He plugged in the coffee machine and started to brew a large cup. When he heard the trickle of dark roast black coffee he nearly cried because it was actually working.  
  
When it finished brewing he realized that he probably couldn't put milk or sugar into it so he would just have to drink it black.  
  
He took a sip and realized that it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, except for the fact that it was scaldingly hot. Whatever, he was still gonna drink it.  
  
He checked his time and realized that he had a few hours before his classes, and decided to fill up on coffee so he didn't internally combust during the lecture.  
  
He just hoped that coffee would be enough to keep him alive.

He wore sunglasses through his whole lecture and was more concerned with getting caught being some sort of ghoul-human hybrid than being labelled a pretentious asshole.  
  
He successfully made it through his class but realized that no, coffee would not be enough to keep him alive. He also realized that, no, nobody seemed willing to give him any notes from the time he was away.  
  
He saw the orange kid that had spilled his BLT on Tobio walk towards him, but he assumed that the orange wasn't looking for him. Tobio started to walk away before he heard a yell directed towards him.  
  
"Hey! Wait up!"  
  
Tobio turned around in confusion. He didn't talk to any of his classmates. How did one of them even know who he was?  
  
"Tobio. Tobio Kageyama, Right?" The orange haired boy said.  
  
Tobio stared in confusion. How did this kid know who he was? And _why_?  
  
"Yeah, that's me. Any particular reason?" Tobio said, breaching the topic.  
  
"Well you've been absent for a week! Don't you need notes from somebody! I could lend them to you to copy, if you're okay with that?" The orange haired boy said.  
  
Tobio was ready to grovel on his hands and knees in front of this boy because he was a true  godsend.  
  
"No offense but, why wouldn't I be okay with that?" Tobio said. He kinda felt bad that he didn't know this kids name, and the orange haired kid was offering Tobio a way to survive in his class.  
  
"Well, it's-uh, it just that you never really look that social and to be honest you kinda scare me but taking notes in this class is the only way to pass and I just thought-" The orange haired boy stopped himself mid-sentence.  
  
"I'm so sorry, I'm rambling but I haven't even told you my name. I'm Hinata Shouyo." Hinata smiled and held out his hand for Tobio to take.  
  
Tobio shook his hand and involuntarily grimaced because of his hunger, and he was touching a potential food source. Hinata must have seen it as Tobio being disgusted at touching him.  
  
Hinata's eyes widened before he quickly handed the notes over, with a quick _I hope these help, see you around!_ and ran off.  
  
Tobio's stomach was literally going to collapse in on itself if he didn't get meat in a few more hours, though.  
  
On his walk home to his apartment he thought about his potential options to stay alive.  
  
He still didn't know what the fuck to do, so that was great. He guessed that he could just go out at night and ruin somebody's life. He was a good enough fighter.  
  
But he knew that he would actually feel remorse about it, because that's basically what happened to him. After some thought, he decided that he could go out, and maybe just take like, a chunk of flesh from a person instead of their life?  
  
_Shit_ , that wouldn't work because they would see his face. Dear Lord how was he supposed to work this out.  
  
He got home to his apartment and dropped his bag on the floor, slumping into his chair as his mind raced with potential options.  
  
He finally thought, you know, fuck it. Just fuck it. He's gonna go out and eat a fucking person because he's going to survive. He's Kageyama _fucking_ Tobio and he can do what he wants.  
  
He grabbed a sweatshirt and some loose track pants, and slipped out into the night.  
  



	2. New Opportunities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ah, I thought I had seen someone new around this part of town!" Said the voice. "I um, I guess I'm new here." He stated lamely. He didn't know whether he was referring to the alleyway or being a ghoul. The statement worked for both situations. The stranger with a kind smile stepped forward, and offered his hand. Tobio flinched when he saw the stranger lift up his arm, as if anticipating an attack. The stranger quickly took his hand back, after seeing Tobio's reaction to it.

The alleyway Tobio had slipped into was dimly lit with a few crude street lights. He didn't smell anybody around him, as he lay in wait for his prey. He was standing around the corner of a large building waiting for someone to use this shortcut.  
  
Tobio picked a place where it was well known, but not many people used it. He didn't want anybody seeing his face, after all.  
  
He started to hear footsteps, and quietly slipped out from where he was hiding.  
He followed the footsteps quietly, not making a sound. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped, and Tobio froze.  
  
He waited for them to continue, but they didn't. Tobio waited in anxiousness to see what the footsteps would do.  
  
Suddenly, the footsteps started up again, coming towards him. He dove into the shadows and held his breath, waiting for them to pass. They didn't smell human, and Tobio wasn't in any condition to be fighting right now.  
  
He waited until he couldn't hear steps anymore, and started to slip out in the other direction. He didn't make it far before he heard the footsteps again. Only this time, they were accompanied by a voice.  
  
"Ah, I thought I had seen someone new around this part of town!" Said the voice.  
  
Tobio froze, not knowing who this voice was or where it was coming from. He slowly turned around, and was greeted with the darkness of the night. Nobody was seen, but Tobio had not imagined the words spoken. He looked around for the voice; he knew that he was still sane. He wanted to be comfortable within his own mind.  
  
Slow footsteps started up once again, and he saw a pale face step into a sliver of the street lights. The mystery speaker had light hair and a kind face, but that was all Tobio could tell at the moment.  
  
"I'm sorry, did I startle you? I didn't mean to, I'm just here to help." The voice continued to speak. A kind smile arose on the mystery man's face. As he stepped further into the light, Tobio could see that he had calm eyes and a soothing smile. Tobio felt the overwhelming urge to trust this person, even though he had no idea who he was.  
  
Tobio finally worked up the nerve to speak, swallowing so that his voice would be clear.  
  
"I um, I guess I'm new here." He stated lamely.  
  
He didn't know whether he was referring to the alleyway or being a ghoul. The statement worked for both situations.  
  
The stranger with a kind smile stepped forward, and offered his hand. Tobio flinched when he saw the stranger lift up his arm, as if anticipating an attack. The stranger quickly took his hand back, after seeing Tobio's reaction to it.  
  
"My name is Sugawara, but most people just call me Suga. No offense, but it just seems like you really don't know what you're doing out here. I really don't mean to be rude, but you look like a deer caught in the headlights." Sugawara said, trying to get Tobio to calm down, since he seemed ready to bolt at any second.  
  
"Hello Sugawara, I'm Tobio. I'm just not used to sneaking around like this. I guess I wasn't expecting anyone to see me here." Tobio said, his posture still showing that he was uncomfortable and jittery.  
  
Sugawara tried to be as calming and soothing as he could, but he was interested in what the words Tobio had spoken meant. Had he just moved here, and didn't want to meet anybody, or was it something deeper? Sugawara now made it his mission to find out.  
  
"Are you new to the neighborhood? I could show you around if you would like? Maybe some other day?" Sugawara asked his probing questions, trying to get some information out of Tobio.  
  
Tobio's fight or flight instincts from years of teen street fights were screaming to try and get him to run, to get far, far away. He ignored his mind that was berating him for decided to trust this stranger, and gritted his teeth to answer Sugawara.  
  
"No, I'm not new to the neighborhood, I've lived here for a good two years, and I’m just a little unfamiliar with this area in particular. I'm fine on my own, thank you though."  
  
Sugawara stopped and really took in the boy in front of him. At the moment, he looked scared and uncomfortable, but Sugawara could tell that he was strong. During his once over, Sugawara also noticed Tobio's one ghoul eye. He put the pieces together in his head about what Tobio had meant when he said he wasn't used to this.  
  
"Tobio, have you always been a ghoul?" Sugawara questioned, deciding to face the problem head on.  
  
Tobio stilled for a few moments, taking in the question Sugawara had asked him. Was he really a ghoul? Was he ready to accept that he was? Is this what he is now?  
  
Tobio had always been someone who adapted to changes, so this was just another thing to get used to. He wouldn't let it pull him down.  
  
"To be completely honest, no. I've been a ghoul for no longer than a week." Tobio said, he had no idea why he was trusting Sugawara, but Sugawara seemed as if he could keep a few secrets.  
  
"If you would like, I could help you in adjusting to your new lifestyle. It won't be easy, and I won't blame you for wanting to give up," Sugawara took a deep breath before continuing, "I only knew my life as a ghoul, so I never questioned what I did, but for you, you have lived in comfort with humans your whole life. To change your mindset completely will be a challenging thing to do, but I have a group of friends that can help you do it. Would you be willing to join me at Karasuno?"  
  
Sugawara held his breath as he waited for Tobio to answer. Even if Tobio didn't want to join him, Sugawara had faith that Tobio wouldn't tell anyone about him, or Karasuno. Sugawara watched as Tobio took deep breaths, thinking for a few seconds. They felt like hours to Sugawara.  
  
Tobio looked up with a new light in his eyes. He had a set goal, and he wanted to complete it. He wanted to adapt to his new life, no matter how hard it would be.  
  
"I'll accept your invitation; I would like you to help me with my new life." Tobio spoke the words clearly, with conviction. He would take the bull by the horns and run with it.  
  
  
Tobio held out his hand to shake Sugawara's, as he had rejected Sugawara's handshake when they had started the conversation. Sugawara's handshake was strong and firm, and he was grinning at Tobio.  
  
Sugawara laughed, his voice sounding like wind chimes in a cool breeze.  
  
"Would you be willing to come back to Karasuno right now? I have a few people I want you to meet, and I want to talk to some of them with you. You do know where Karasuno is, right?" Sugawara inquired, waiting for Tobio to answer.  
  
Tobio thought for a few moments, before he remembered.  
  
"Is that the bar that's right in the corner of town?" He asked, almost positive that it was.  
  
"It is, and if you're okay with it, that's where we'll be going tonight." Sugawara said, looking at Tobio for assurance.  
  
Tobio nodded in agreement, letting Sugawara lead the way.  
  
They walked through the town in relative silence. Sugawara suddenly stopped, and turned around to look at Tobio. Tobio ignored it for a while, but it was getting hard to pretend it wasn't affecting him. He started fidgeting, and twitching from being under such intense scrutiny.  
  
Tobio felt unnerved at being stared at for so long. He averted his eyes, looking at the ground, the walls, and the sky. Anywhere but Sugawara's persistent gaze.  
  
"Before we go into town, we're going to have to do something about that eye." Sugawara said, still staring.  
  
"What about it?" Tobio asked. They were just eyes, what was he supposed to do about them?  
  
"Y'know, the kakugan." Sugawara stated.  
  
Tobio had no idea what that meant. Kakugan? Wasn't that some kind of card game? How did that relate to his eyes?  
  
Sugawara noticed his obvious confusion and decided to explain.  
  
"Well, the kakugan is what we call our eyes when they take on the black and red colors. I'm sure you've seen it happen." He said, explaining thoroughly enough for Tobio to understand.  
  
"Oh. Right. Well, what will we do?" Tobio said real eloquently.  
  
"I have an idea. You'll just have to go along with it for now." Sugawara said, and if anyone else had said those words, Tobio would have ran. The reason he didn't is because Sugawara had a calming effect, and Tobio felt like he could put his life in Sugawara's hands.  
  
"We have to find a little corner store or pharmacy first, though. I'm sure they'll have something to cover it up." Sugawara explained.  
  
"I know one that's not far from here, and it has most day to day items. Although I don't know what we're looking for yet." Tobio added, trying to be helpful to Sugawara's search.  
  
Sugawara nodded, seemingly lost in thought. He seemed to make some kind of decision, before he looked back up to Tobio and grinned at him.  
  
"Well, lead the way!" Sugawara said brightly, and Tobio took that as his cue to start walking.  
  
Sugawara told Tobio to stay out of the store while he looked for something, _we don't want anybody seeing that._ Tobio had been offended for a few moments before he realized Sugawara was talking about his eye.  
  
After a few minutes of waiting behind the building, Sugawara stepped out of the store and handed Tobio the bag. Tobio opened it and saw...  
  
_An eyepatch?  
_  
Well, it did make sense. Actually, that was one of the only ways to cover his eye for good, or wear sunglasses, but who would do that in the middle of the night.  
  
Sugawara stood triumphantly next to Tobio, grinning at him.  
  
"So! You should put that on now, since we'll be heading over to Karasuno!" Sugawara said, excited at his new purchase.  
  
Tobio quickly slipped the eyepatch over his eye that had the activated kakugan. He then followed Sugawara through the town to get to the bar, where they were supposed to talk with Sugawara's... Friends? Coworkers? Tobio supposed he would find out when he got there.  
  
They mostly used back alleys to get through the town; it wouldn't be good if someone saw two somewhat shady teenagers walking around in the middle of the night.  
  
The street lights gave the alleys an ominous feel. They gave barely enough light to walk around, and they were mostly navigating by moonlight. The night was clear, without many clouds and with many stars. The moon was nearly full.  
  
Tobio almost made a joke about turning into a ghoul under the full moon. Almost.  
  
_Maybe that's what actually happens to me?  
_  
_Nah, that's not possible.  
  
_ Sugawara informed him of when they were coming close to the bar. It was somewhat hidden in the back of the town. Although it wasn't so far off that people couldn't stumble upon it during the night, or the day, even.  
  
Tobio mentally took track of the turns they were making, so that he could navigate his way out of this place. He was only somewhat familiar with the back alleys of this town, and he didn't want to get lost.  
  
They finally arrived at the building, stepping into the smell of alcohol and the fading scent of coffee. Tobio took in the dimly lit bar. It wasn't too crowded, but it still looked popular.  
  
It didn't look quite as big as the other bars Tobio had been to, and it looked pretty modest. It could probably be a café during the day. Could they do that? They should.  
  
Sugawara was having a conversation with someone who Tobio assumed worked there. He was tall, with a goatee and long brown hair. He looked to be intense and intimidating. Tobio decided to steer clear of him.  
  
Suga, however, had some other ideas. He immediately brought the tall individual over to come introduce them to each other. As he was walking over, Tobio and the tall man made eye contact, and Tobio could tell they were equally scared of each other.  
  
Suga made it over to Tobio, and began the introductions.  
  
"Tobio, this is Asahi Azumane. He works here at Karasuno with us." Sugawara said, with a soothing smile on his face. "Don't worry, he's not as intimidating as he looks" He added as an afterthought.  
  
"Asahi, this is Tobio. I wanted to talk to him with Daichi, if you know where he is." Sugawara told Azumane. Azumane nodded, and gestured for them to follow him.  
  
He led the three of them into the back and up a set of stairs into a break room, with a couch and a coffee table. In there sat a broad-shouldered man with dark, short trimmed hair.  
  
Suga looked up at the man with a smile, his eyes softening.  
  
"Daichi, I wanted to talk to you with Tobio. I met him tonight, and I wanted to help him. It's okay if Asahi listens in too." Sugawara said, starting to explain why Tobio was there.  
  
"It's alright, I still have to work right now, so I'll take my leave." Azumane murmured, quietly slipping out of the room.  
  
Daichi turned to Tobio, looking him up and down as if assessing him. He finally finished and glanced at Sugawara for assurance. Sugawara nodded slightly at him, and Daichi once again turned to fully face Tobio.  
  
"So, I take it that _you_ are Tobio." He said, smiling kindly and showing no malice. "I'd like to know why Suga decided to bring you here, although it is common, I just like to make sure it's safe for us." Daichi looked at Tobio expectantly, waiting for Tobio to answer him with his story.  
  
Tobio felt slightly put on the spot, and his instincts were screaming at him not to trust these people, that he barely knows them and he's going to tell them his life story, his instincts were always looking out for him. but he _wanted_ to trust these people. He knew they wouldn’t be like his parents.  
  
"Well, you all are ghouls, right?" Tobio waited for the small nod from both men before continuing. "Well, I'm really not a ghoul, or I wasn't, until recently." He said, slipping out a bit of information, but deciding to ask some questions first.  
  
“I thought that this bar served humans, why would ghouls own it? I don't understand the logic behind it." He asked, choosing all of his words carefully, making sure that it couldn't be taken the wrong way.  
  
Daichi sighed, and he seemed to have had to explain this a numerous amount of times. He cleared his throat, and started to tell Tobio about this place.  
  
"Well, we want to be able to integrate with the humans, and we don't want to be easily spotted as ghouls when we only serve certain people. If we want to stay under the radar, we have to serve everybody who is eligible." Daichi elaborated, seeming to just tell him a speech that he memorized for this situation.  
  
Tobio agreed with Daichi's rational thinking, but he still had more questions.  
  
"I'm not familiar with ghouls, their habits, what they do or how they do it. I'm not even familiar with their anatomy, or how they fight. Can you maybe, like, quickly explain it to me? I don't want to be completely helpless and lost." He asked inquisitively. He knew next to nothing about ghouls, the only things he knew about them were the lectures the CCG was obligated to give.  
  
Sugawara started to explain, in slow, careful tones, making sure Tobio understood.  
  
"The ghouls have a kakuhou, an organ in which our RC cells can harden and break through the skin to form a kagune. There are different types of kagune, depending on where the kakuhou is located on your body. If it's located above your shoulder blades, you have a ukaku. If it's located right under your shoulder blades, you have a koukaku, if it's located in the middle of your back, it's a rinkaku, and if it's in your lower back it's a bikaku.” Sugawara hesitated before continuing.

“I think you would know what we eat. Aside from that, ghouls can drink coffee and alcohol, as long as it’s not flavored. Ghouls tend to stray towards vodka."  
  
Tobio nodded, and he decided that was all of the information he needed, for now. He would find out more about this place later.  
  
"Well, like I said, I wan’t a ghoul until just recently. I was a human for most of my life, and I was used to eating human food and living like a human in freedom. Recently I was in an accident with a ghoul, and the doctor transplanted the ghoul’s organs into my body, resulting in the change in my appetite and eyes. The doctor told me the only way to save my life was to transplant the organs, even if the donor wasn’t a match." Tobio finished the story, and he would only elaborate if they asked, for now he assumed that was enough.  
  
"Wait," Sugawara said, "that doesn't make sense. Something's not right, Tobio." He gave him a weary look, before he sighed and told them what was giving him a bad feeling.  
  
"A kakuhou cannot be developed under natural circumstances after birth."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it ya boi back at it again with the bad writing. i tried to make it suspenseful?? i dont think it worked. lmao so schools coming up im prob not gonna update that frequently. hmu @my tumblr: reen-matsubroka and my twitter: reiialt

**Author's Note:**

> lmao ok so this has been sitting in my files for like a year now and i totally forgot abt it.... i didnt even proofread this please spare me. ill try to update?? its summer rn so its a possibility but once school starts i die. hmu on my  tumblr  and twitter


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